Hedwig - This time
by hont91
Summary: The next time I would wake up, I would once again be alive, but this time, I would have the ability to help my boy… Even if he would never meet Hedwig the Owl this time around.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Before someone does something... I own nothing other than a concept of a story based on another. Do not bother me with lawsuits, please. In other words, I did not write Harry Potter, otherwise I would be rich, altough I would still be writing fanfiction...

* * *

Some interesting things must be said about the wheel of reincarnation, for one, it does not exist, well, not in the literal sense of the world. Much like many other things in the world, it exists as a concept created somewhere in the in-between of the world by the belief that such a thing exists…

Much like gods, demons, the 'next great adventure' and of course… Magic.

Of course, such things are usually not in the mind of an owl, but then again, I was not a normal owl, I was Harry Potter's owl.

Hedwig was what he called me, and it was a fitting name, it showcased how I was superior to the lesser owls, my appearance, my breed, my strength, no, I was not a normal owl.

And my boy was not a normal boy, neither was he a normal wand waver. When we met I had already planned on flying away the moment I was released, to be free from these stupid wand wavers and their stupid laws and magic.

But when our eyes met, when I saw that beautiful green, I realized then and there that I needed to take care of him, because no one else had or would. And so I stayed, and I cared, and listened and tried to protect.

In turn, he accepted me as an equal, and made sure I was always had what I needed, even at the cost of his own.

We were family…

* * *

Inside the cage I watched as the giant-man and my boy tried to flee from the dark ones, I knew the cold would come for someone this night, and I wished it was not for my boy, prideful I was, but I could never accept that.

I watched as one of the dark ones shot a spell at us, I recognized it, all animals know about it, the curse of the cold, the death, it was coming for the giant-man, but if he died, my boy would surely plummet to earth and then…

No!

That I could not accept, I would not accept.

I called into myself, my magic, so different from those foolish wand wavers who do not understand the power they were tapping.

My pride was more than the pride of a beautiful owl, arrogant as I was in my own right, I was different than these weak owls, I had magic, nowhere near my boy's, and much more raw and free and natural, but it was magic.

One second, was all it took to sap all of my energies, but in rumbling, my cage floated, I never closed my eyes, watching the green light, so similar to my boy's eyes, closing to me.

I wished I could speak with my boy, tell him so many things I learned in our years, tell him so many words, of gratitude, of warning, and my apologies…

But it was not to be, and as the curse hit me, I knew no more.

* * *

It was blue.

A gigantic sky, so blue it was eye-watering.

A green forest on the ground.

An expanse so great, a sky so clean, a forest so big… and yet…

I landed near a two-story house, hidden in the middle of the forest; it was a beautiful house, painted in light colors, with a well-cared for garden where the humans had only aided nature to reach beauty.

It was the kind of house a small family would leave, leading happy lives and caring for each other. The kind of house I wouldn't mind being a pet to, the kind of house my boy should have lived in…

How I wished… I could have helped him more, I know I staved his loneliness away, but that was hardly enough.

I wished for… More…

'_Ask'_

I turned my head sharply, looking for the source of the voice, and was met with the sight of this gigantic beautiful world slowly crumbling, its edges shattering like glass before the remains simply disappeared.

What was happening?

I tried to fly, but found myself suddenly trapped to the ground, my wings not working anymore, fear started creeping into my soul, was this not the afterlife the humans talked about? Was it not a paradise? Or was I subjected to what humans call hell?

Before I could try to do something really drastic, the shattering reached me and the world crumbled, but before that happened I noticed two things.

First: There were two humans, smiling at me in the house, two humans I had never met but observed with my boy many times over.

James and Lily Potter.

The second was that I was no longer an owl.

'_And ye shall receive'_.

The next time I would wake up, I would once again be alive, but this time, I would have the ability to help my boy… Even if he would never meet Hedwig the Owl this time around.

* * *

Author note: Honestly, I wonder where I will go with it, I just started writing and decided to post it before changing idea, as I do so often(I have tons of fics that I probably will never post in my HD)

If you haven't guessed, I turned Hedwig into a girl and sent her to the past(just a couple of years, Harry is at the Dursley already).

Finally, I may or may not continue this, that will depend on my mood and if I get inspired...

Cya o/


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: well, usually I insist in writting and rewritting everything a dozen of times, but just like when I decided to impulsively post this, I decided to not bother with trying to achieve a perfection I will never get to, so, there it is, fresh from the press... it might not be good, but at least it's something to post ^^"

By the way, I don't bother with a disclaimer at every chapter since the first one already has it... Of course, if there's something in the rules that say I must, I will... and for now, PLAY!

* * *

I said it once, but I will say it again, the wheel of reincarnation does not exist in the literal sense of the word, and as such, its existence in a conceptual in-between is free of the constraints of time.

So, while unusual, a conqueror of the new world might as well be reincarnated as one of the first humans to walk the earth, or a dragon may become the long dead-mage whose treasure the dragon guarded.

Magic and belief are strange things, so, sometimes things like the knight that died trying to save a princess may be reborn as the dragon that killed him. Such situations are not impossible, because the Wheel is outside time, and its effects cannot be subjected to the whims of the world.

Such is the power of the belief humans wield.

And some cases like mine can also happen, where someone is changed and brought back to a time before his or hers birth, in another form, where his/her presence is enough to change the whole future, and effectively erasing the life that had been from anywhere but the memories of the soul.

* * *

When I woke up this time, my instincts told me as much, that I was alive, that Hedwig the Owl would never exist, even if that was my past life, that I had magic and that I was now human.

A tiny human, sure, but human nonetheless.

I blinked, moving my new limbs a little, trying to make sense of the new body, the limited human neck started to hurt when I inclined my head as I normally would, so I just looked ahead to the white ceiling.

I was in a bed, not a particularly good one mind you, the mattress was sunken, the sheets were rough and I was directly under the sun.

Stupid humans don't know how to treat a lady.

Someone, an older female entered the room, her brown and slight dull eyes swept through the room and the other occupants before meeting my amber-colored ones, the dull light disappeared from her eyes as she startled, shrieked and left the room in a hurry calling for a healer.

A magical hospital then, since a non-magical nurse wouldn't have panicked or left a confused patient alone.

Stupid wand wavers.

* * *

It took a few hours, but I finally could move my new body, a middle-aged man entered the room and without bothering with talking to me, started waving his stick and muttering spells, while he did that I managed to get myself sitting on the bed and started to test the new tongue, trying to speak under my breath.

Who knew talking would be hard?

Finally the healer declared me in fine health and turned to me, finally realizing I was actually paying attention to him.

"So, little miss, how do you feel?"

I struggled a little with the tongue, but managed to squeak a 'fine' in a high-pitched voice that would have made my owl ears hurt.

He nodded and stared at my eyes.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Ma-gic hi-hospi-tal" It was so irritating, but I was forced to talk like a small child… and now that I could compare myself to an adult, I knew I was one. I was tired of being small and useless, but at least this time I would grow up… I hoped so, the older owls always tell tales of humans who never seems to get bigger…

"The long-term spell damage ward in St. Mungos to be exact… Do you remember your name little miss?" At least he seemed kind, but why would I be in the long-term ward? That makes no sense… well, not that I am not glad to not have to go through the first years of human life, that would be unbearable

"Hi-Heg-Hed-i-Hed-wig. Hedwig" I wanted to hide myself under my wing in shame, to have to try so hard to say own name? How disgraceful.

"What about your parents?"

I just shook my head, deciding that I embarrassed myself enough for the day… Was I going to have to deal with these feelings from now on? When I was an owl I was never ashamed of anything… Everything was so much simpler, fly, take care of my boy, take letters, protect my boy, get bacon, console my boy…

Now that I think about it, that does sounds like an obsession…

"Hedwig, can you tell me how old are you?" He asked again.

That was a problem, I had been just over a year old when I was given by the giant-man to my boy, and we had six years together before I decided that dying and leaving him alone was a good idea. What was wrong with me to think that was a good idea, what kind of trouble would he get into without me there to save him.

"Hedwig?"

I just shook my head again, I didn't know the age of this body, and now that I think about it, is it mine? Or am I possessing some poor girl's body? That would be bad, Harry would never agree that something like that was needed…

But no… I don't think so, this body is alien to me, but at the same time it feels right, how… strange...

After that the idiot human asked a few more questions, most of them I didn't know the answer, or thought it best not to answer.

It not because I was too embarrassed to speak again.

REALLY!

* * *

I wanted to leave that place and go flying to my boy, to take him away from his relatives, to care for him and… and what I didn't know exactly, I was not an owl anymore, so I wouldn't just watch over him anymore…

However I stayed in that hospital room for two weeks, refusing to say more than single syllable words until I could master the use of the human tongue. It was fortunate that as an owl I had been blessed with extraordinary intelligence, and knew how to read, so I learned what was my 'condition': apparently, I was found 5 years earlier, in coma, my body so filled with magic that until it leaked out, the doctors didn't know if my body was actually flesh and bone, or some sort of magical construct.

5 years of coma, no wonder the nurse panicked when she saw me.

I also managed to get the date, it was now August 13th, which means I woke up July 31st, Harry's birthday… Coincidence much? I think not.

Well, in this time, I managed to learn to talk, I still need to talk slowly or what I say gets mixed up, but that's the best I can do, my body has also recovered from what little weakness I suffered while in 'coma', at least the stupid wandwavers know how to make sure a body that does not move does not weaken much, probably because they're all a bunch of lazy *******

I couldn't wait anymore, it was time to see Harry. I managed to sneak to the rooftop, not that hard really, I've been wandering through the hospital this whole week afterall.

At the rooftop I greeted the sky, smiling as the winds played with my hair, I smiled, while I did not care much for human appearances, at least my hair was pleasing, snow-white strands intermixed with a few strands of jet-black, it made for a nice image, it meant I was different from others, just as my amber-colored eyes did too.

And it doesn't matter what the nurses said, I was not CUTE! I was marvelous and dangerous and…

I sighed, that was another thing, it was harder to control myself, who knew humans had so few conflicting emotions at once? Sure, my boy was a mixed ball of feelings all chewed and together, but personally I always thought it more because of the humans around him than being human… And I was only six!

The breeze picked up and I calmed down, the thoughts and feelings disappearing as I dived inside myself, I shivered, not of cold, but remembering the last time I did that, it was when I was an owl.

And then I felt it, the magic, my magic, and I couldn't see anything any more.

It was magic alright, but so different than what I had, so much more, so much power, is this the power the wizard and witches take for granted? This gigantic well of energy? I had been the strongest owl in Hogwarts for six years, one of few in centuries with enough that I could actually do something with it, but that paled in comparison to this, it was like a drop being compared to a lake.

I grabbed it, the power running through my veins intoxicating me slightly, I paused, breathed and 'pulled'.

With a pop, Hedwig, the girl disappeared, the thin and useless patient robes were left at the ground.

And I was flying again, everything felt right again, no more useless feelings, or hitting myself with my new limbs, or trying to talk like a human, I was an owl again, I was Hedwig.

And I was going to meet my Harry again.

* * *

Author's Notes 2: Now, for some explanations:

It was that easy for Hedwig to turn into her owl form, because she was just turning into a form she accepted as hers, a form her magic and soul already knew, different from humans who (in my headcanon) need to understand the animal forms and let go of the human ego, at this moment she is an owl in human form, add to that the fact that she can grasp magic in a way wizards and witches do not learn for years, and it is ridiculous easy for her.

As a matter of fact, so easy, she will actually have trouble with turning back.

another thing, she is not a prodigy or something, she will grasp magic a lot easier than other people, because of a better instinctual understanding, but she is not a genius, she does not know magic theory, and she is not stronger than the average witch. The animagus transformation is just something a lot more instinctive than anything else... at least I think and Harry are the same age too, if anyone is wondering.


End file.
